Dominique Halaby

Director, Business Innovation Group Georgia Southern University

  • Statesboro GA

Dr. Halaby oversees development of Georgia Southern University’s City Center.

Contact

Georgia Southern University

View more experts managed by Georgia Southern University

View all Experts

Spotlight

2 min

Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group wins international recognition from InBIA

Business Innovation Group team members Dominique Halaby, DPA, Suzanne Hallman and D’Erica Evans accept an award at the InBIA awards ceremony. Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group (BIG) returned home from San Antonio, Texas, with high honors from the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) during its annual awards ceremony, which recognizes excellence in entrepreneur support. In an awards ceremony held during the 38th annual International Conference on Business Incubation, BIG received four awards including two of the organization’s most prestigious accolades, the Dinah Adkins Award for Non-Technology-Based Entrepreneur Support Organization of the Year, and the Randall M. Whaley Award, which is InBIA’s highest honor. The Statesboro BIG location was named the Mixed-Use Entrepreneur Support Organization of the Year, while the Metter Business Incubator location received the Rural Entrepreneurship Support Organization of the Year. “I am honored that the InBIA recognized our efforts at the Georgia Southern University Business Innovation Group with the highest accolades for the support we offer to entrepreneurs,” said Dominique Halaby, DPA, director of the BIG and associate vice president for innovation. “These awards highlight the hard work the BIG teams put into making our business incubators an incredible resource for budding businesses and furthering our mission to advance the economic growth of our region.” BIG works to build an ecosystem throughout the state of Georgia to help entrepreneurs create, incubate and accelerate their for-profit business enterprises. BIG facilitates access to University resources, creates opportunities for student experiential learning and fosters an environment that supports a growth mindset throughout the state. “Through the InBIA awards program, we celebrate exceptional organizations that catalyze entrepreneurship for their communities,” said President and CEO of InBIA Charles Ross. “Congratulations to the Georgia Southern University Business Innovation Group on their well-deserved recognition. Their commitment to high-quality programming, organizational excellence and community impact is truly inspiring.” InBIA is a global nonprofit empowering entrepreneur support organizations in every U.S. state and in over 30 countries. With over 39 years of experience, InBIA has been a guiding force in providing industry best practices, fostering collaboration, mentorship and the exchange of innovative ideas for entrepreneurs worldwide. InBIA is the go-to organization for business incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces and other entrepreneurship centers. Interested in learning more or looking to talk with Dominique Halaby? Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.

Dominique Halaby

2 min

Georgia Southern University – is thinking BIG when it comes to entrepreneurs and small business

Through the CARES Act and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group (BIG) has received $300,000 in grant funding to expand its services to the region in an effort to help communities and businesses respond to and recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “This will really allow us to help businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the entire state ideally get access to the skills, knowledge and services that Georgia Southern has to offer,” said Dominique Halaby, DPA, director of BIG. Over the next two years, BIG will use these funds to expand their services through the Georgia Enterprise Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GENIE). “We’re hoping that we can demonstrate to budding entrepreneurs and small business owners that Georgia Southern can help them develop and grow,” Halaby said. “We are hopeful that in two years’ time people are going to have a heightened aerial view of awareness for Georgia Southern and our Business Innovation Group services, but more importantly, that they are going to get the type of resources to be able to launch the business that they’ve always wanted to launch.” Halaby said offering these resources to the region is important for economic growth. “Any time that we have an ability to do something, we have a responsibility to do it,” Halaby said. “The needs of our community are great. Our ability to service those needs by connecting those with the resources on our campus and with the skills that we have fostered within BIG puts us in a very unique position. This way, we are able to provide services to help as many entrepreneurs and to help as many people looking for jobs as we possibly can.” BIG will also use part of the grant funding to work with Georgia Southern faculty to strengthen patent and licensing activity. “We’re working with our intellectual property committee and through the University to let faculty know that if they’ve got a concept, that BIG can help them flesh that out. We can work with them to do an analysis to see the marketability for their concept and determine if it’s patentable or licensable,” Halaby said. If you’re a journalist looking to know more about how Georgia Southern University is assisting regional businesses or its Business Innovation Group (BIG) – then let our experts help with your coverage. Dominique Halaby, DPA, is the Director of the Business Innovation Group (BIG) at Georgia Southern University. In 2015, BIG was recognized as a Gold Award Winner in Entrepreneurship by the International Economic Development Council. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.

Dominique Halaby

Social

Biography

Dominique Halaby, D.P.A. is the Director of the Business Innovation Group (BIG) at Georgia Southern University. This includes the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research, Center for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership, Small Business Development Center, EDA University Center, Innovation Incubator and Fab Lab. In 2015, BIG was recognized as a Gold Award Winner in Entrepreneurship by the International Economic Development Council.

Dr. Halaby is also overseeing the development of Georgia Southern’s City Center. The City Center is a joint initiative between Georgia Southern University, the City of Statesboro, and the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, he is working with the Hinesville Development Authority to construct a second City Center in Hinesville.

Prior to joining Georgia Southern, he served as the Director of the Center for Community and Business Research at UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development. He spent most of his career building a non-profit organization dealing with workforce and economic development. Under his leadership, the organization was recognized in 2003 by the Society for Human Resource Management as The Best to Place to Work in Hidalgo County for companies with less than 100 employees. He was successful in achieving broad collaboration among industry leaders and educators to strengthen home-grown approaches to meet local skilled workforce needs, and in leading several community planning and antipoverty initiatives. These projects were recognized as national finalists for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Best Practices in 2003 and 2006, as well as being honored by the Texas Workforce Commission as the Transitional Workforce Award recipient in 2004. In addition, Dr. Halaby served as Interim Director of the Rio Grande Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization and assisted public universities in South Texas and new business ventures in accessing the $200 million Emerging Technology Fund. To date, he has secured over $35 million in funding.

Dr. Halaby serves on the APLU’s Commission on Economic and Community Engagement Executive Committee, as well as a board member of several other entities including the University Economic Development Association, Spaceport Camden and Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Areas of Expertise

Community Development
Workforce and Economic Development
Non-Profit Organizations
Workplace Innovation
Rural Entrepreneurship
Community Engagement

Accomplishments

Executive Committee

Class of 2021 - Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities Commission on Economic and Community Engagement

Board of Directors

2018 - Present - University Economic Development Association

Downtown Visionary Award Recipient

2017 - Downtown Statesboro Development Authority

Show All +

Education

Warrington College of Business, University of Florida

AACSB Post-Doctoral Bridge Program-Certified Scholarly Academic in Entrepreneurship & International Business

2014

H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business & Entrepreneurship Nova Southeastern University

D.P.A.

2006

The University of Texas at Austin

B.A.

Sociology

1995

Media Appearances

Georgia Southern opens Innovation Incubator and FabLab in Statesboro

Atlanta Business Chronicle  

2016-09-13

Business Innovation Group Director Dominique Halaby said the idea that this is now in place demonstrates for rural America, anything is possible.

“The services you’d normally find in larger urban areas or at institutions like Georgia Tech are now right here in Statesboro and at Georgia Southern,” Halaby said in a statement. “Just in the FabLab component, we have 3-D printing of various types so anyone can come in and manufacture anything that they can imagine, but we also have laser cutters, woodworking equipment and lots of other tools that you might not have in your house but you can have access to right here in this space.”...

View More

Creating Opportunities

Georgia Trend  online

2015-04-02

“The concept [for the FabLab] came about in a strategic planning retreat that the Statesboro Chamber of Commerce put together back in 2011,” says Dominique Halaby, director of the Bureau for Business Research and Economic Development and the go-to guy for all things FabLab related. “We have a growing creative class, this momentum to have this creative and innovative environment here in Statesboro. When you couple that with the emphasis on manufacturing through our College of Engineering, the FabLab proves a fantastic concept to be able to bring and engage our students, faculty, businesses and even the K-12 system with robotics competitions, anybody in our region will be able to be innovative and create just about anything that they can imagine.”

View More

City Campus reveals plans for 'Fab Lab'

Connect Statesboro  

2014-11-04

The university challenged the architects to help create emotional ties between City Campus and Georgia Southern's main campus, said Dominique Halaby, the director of the university's Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development. Having students maintain the green wall is one strategy. Changing the glow from light-emitting diodes is another.

The alley should look pretty in soft, white light most nights, Halaby said.

"Except, when Georgia Southern wins, or at commencement or on key events, we want that thing lit blue so you have this blue alley that ties back into the core of what it means to be home to the greatest university in the country," he said. "We want to have that emotional connection extended back into the campus for our students."...

View More

Show All +

Articles

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Use of a Commitment Device in a Philanthropic Business Model

American Journal of Entrepreneurship

Dominique Halaby

2017

In the past 100 years, the manner in which for-profit entities support social causes has evolved considerably. In the early 1900’s, many stockholders viewed efforts to operate in a socially responsible manner as contrary to the firm’s profit motives. Now, several states authorize a new legal structure for companies that place support for social causes at the core of their business strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature relating to social responsibility and outline the distinction between various forms of corporate engagement with social causes. The author presents a historical review of methods by which corporate support for a social cause has shifted and examines how businesses that choose to function in a socially responsible manner operate. This article makes a contribution to the area of social responsibility by providing an alternate framework that accounts for social consciousness of for-profit businesses and their use of a commitment device. The framework can be utilized by academics and practitioners seeking to delineate between for-profit enterprises that operate with a degree of social consciousness and those that do not. Finally, the author highlights recommendations for further research in the field of social responsibility.

View more

Determining the viability of a college or university-based business incubator: A comparative assessment of feasibility studies

Economic Development in Higher Education

Dominique Halaby

2016

This article explores the various elements of assessing the feasibility of developing a college or university-based business incubator. It is a narrative review of seven incubator feasibility studies, one of which is directed by the author. The purpose of the article is to outline the common elements of these studies, assess the goals of these studies and provide a framework by which institutions of higher education in other communities can utilize in assessing the viability of an incubator in their area. Given the sparse academic research conducted prior to an incubator’s formation, this article is meant to complement prior research that explores the operational aspects of established incubator programs and assist higher education administrators in the exploratory stages of establishing a business incubator. This article looks at seven community efforts prior to their launch of a business incubator and seeks to identify thematic areas and common processes that were used to determine whether or not sufficient conditions existed to warrant the establishment of a new business incubator.

View more

Rural entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy: The case of NAFTA impacted counties in Georgia

Economic Development Journal

Dominique Halaby

2015

Promoting economic development in rural America can be very challenging. In order to effectively assist entrepreneurs and small business owners in economically challenged counties in rural Georgia with establishing and growing their business, Georgia Southern University developed Georgia’s Enterprise Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GENIE). Founded in 2012, GENIE provides a conduit for community and business leaders to engage and access the university services through three methods: mentoring, connecting and training. In three years, the program has assisted over 40 businesses and contributed to the creation or retention of more than 50 jobs. This article discusses and outlines the lessons learned launching the program in five rural counties that were deemed to have been negatively impacted by the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). GENIE received IEDC’s Gold Award in Entrepreneurship.

View more

Powered by